Thursday: 14 Iraqis Killed, 58 Wounded

A pair of attacks in two major cities took the lion’s share of casualties today.
At least 14 Iraqis were killed and 58 more wounded across the country.
Meanwhile, many provincial governments and agencies are tightening security
ahead of elections, but they have also given journalists more freedom to cover
them.

In Baghdad, the B.O.C. once again removed the requirement for
journalists to receive authorizations in order to work. They had previously
removed the requirement, but the Iraqi government then re-instated it.

In Kirkuk, a radio journalist was kidnapped.
Kurdish Peshmerga detained
then released the brother of a Turkmen
political party official; the official earlier thought his brother had been
kidnapped. A total of 26 suspects were detained
over the last ten days during raids. Two suspects were arrested today. Also, three
weapons caches were discovered
in the greater Kirkuk area, including Hawija and Riyadh.

Two al-Qaeda suspects were captured in Suwayra. A
weapons cache was found
separately.

Wassit province is giving journalists great
latitude to cover the upcoming elections.